Acupuncture and Related Therapies for the Treatment of Gastrointestinal Diseases

Gastrointestinal diseases are very common worldwide. Patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease, functional dyspepsia, irritable bowel syndrome, and inflammatory bowel diseases frequently recur to complementary medicine, including acupuncture, likely because of the recurrence of symptoms and the sometimes lack of efficacy of conventional treatments. Acupuncture is a medical practice used in Asian country with benefits for thousands years. In the last decades, growing attention has been given to acupuncture also in Western countries and many studies have investigated the role of acupuncture in gastroenterology. This review provided an overview of the effectiveness and potential mechanisms of action of acupuncture for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases.